title: Self-reflection and positive schizotypy in the adolescent brain.
abstract: Clinical and phenomenological accounts of schizophrenia suggest that impairments in self-reflective processes significantly contribute to psychopathological expression. Recent imaging studies observe atypical cerebral activation patterns during self-reflection, especially around the cortical midline structures, both in psychosis-prone adults and individuals with schizophrenia. Given that self-reflection processes consolidate during adolescence, and that early transient expression of psychosis (positive schizotypy) also arises during this period, the present study sought to examine whether atypical cerebral activation during self-reflection task could be associated with early schizotypic expression during adolescence. Forty-two neurotypical adolescent participants (19 females) aged from 12 to 19 (15.92±1.9) underwent a self-reflection task using functional neuroimaging (fMRI), where they had to evaluate trait adjectives (1 to 4 ratings) about themselves or their same sex best friend. The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) was employed to assess positive schizotypic expression. Results showed that positive schizotypy in adolescents significantly correlated with cortical midline activation patterns in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), as well as the dorsolateral PFC and the lingual gyrus. The results are consistent with previous imaging literature on self-reflection and schizophrenia. They further highlight that the relationship between self-reflection processes and positive schizotypy operates at the trait level of expression and can be observed as early as adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Adolescence Clinical Psychology Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Office Médico-Pédagogique Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Switzerland. Electronic address: martin.debbane@unige.ch.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Debbané
authors.affiliation: Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Laboratory for the study of Emotion Elicitation and Expression, Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, USA.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vrtička
authors.affiliation: Adolescence Clinical Psychology Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Office Médico-Pédagogique Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lazouret
authors.affiliation: Adolescence Clinical Psychology Research Unit, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Office Médico-Pédagogique Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Badoud
authors.affiliation: Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Laboratory for the study of Emotion Elicitation and Expression, Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sander
authors.affiliation: Office Médico-Pédagogique Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Switzerland; Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva School of Medicine, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eliez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D003702:Delusions / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Connectivity; Cortical midline; Delusions; Hallucinations; Psychosis; fMRI